Children of Darkness
by TheWhoufflePrincess
Summary: Everything was peaceful. Emery and Ceony were living in content for the past month, enjoying their peaceful lives together in the cottage. The world may be rid of Grath, Saraj, and Lira, but there are still people lurking in the shadows; perhaps people Emery and Ceony may not be able to defeat. (A post-Master Magician story. Rated T for violence and whatnot?)
1. Chapter 1

This was previously posted under my Wattpad in my Paper Magician one-shots book. It deserves its own book, so thats why this is here now. I've went through it, trying to add more detail and whatnot to what I have already written. I hope you all enjoy.

* * *

It felt strange walking through the city streets to the store, feeling watched with every turn she took. It was unnerving. It had occurred every time she went out, for a month and a half, ever since Ceony and Emery got engaged. She would always glance around, but nobody of true suspicious nature stood out. She debated telling Emery about it, but at the same time she didn't want him to worry anymore. There were no more problems that should perturb him. Ceony wanted to keep it that way and save his restless heart from anymore large cracks.

Once she had reached the store, she walked towards the produce area. She was thinking of making a new dish, but she wasn't sure of what. She perused the items, then realized they had run out of cucumber. Emery had recently grown a craving of salads and there were more cucumber slices than actual lettuce. As she picked up two cucumbers, she felt it again. That feeling, someone's eyes drilling holes in the back of her skull.

"Mrs. Thane?" Someone asked and Ceony whipped around. It was a man about Zina's age, but had an uncanny resemblance of Marshall, except for the sky blue eyes that pierced through her. She could see his roots start to grow, to show blond streaks. What a strange colour combination, but then again, Ceony had bright orange. Who was she to judge?

"Um...it's still Miss Twill, but I'm getting there." She frowned when the man didn't say anything in response, not even a chuckle came from his slightly chapped lips. "Can I...help you?" She looked at him, frowning. Ceony memorized his face intently, knowing she would need to. The man only smiled warmly- or at least tried to. His demeanor was too stiff and cold to be warm.

"I wanted to congratulate you on your engagement." The man said, "I'm...an old friend of your fiancé."

"Oh? Do you have a name?" She asked, crossing her arms and furrowed her brow.

"Val." He said, tipping his hat to her. She didn't recall Val to be in Emery's hopes, during the part where the Excisioners were all locked up. Perhaps he truly was a friend?

Ceony nodded and he extended his hand for her to shake. She hesitantly shook it. He had quite the strong grip, as if he was holding onto Ceony as a very last resort. The man smiled yet again and walked off. Ceony frowned and put the cucumbers in her bag.

She would have to ask Emery who Val was.

* * *

Ceony stepped into the cottage, Jonto and Fennel there to greet her. She smiled and handed Jonto a lighter bag. He followed her into the kitchen, where she placed the bags onto the counter. She heard a loud thud and a groan coming from the upper floors. Was he working on larger spells again? It was about that time of the month for him to start it. She climbed the steps, heading straight for the third floor. Ceony opened the door hesitantly, expecting something ridiculous from his unbound imagination. He must have had some absurd creation yet again.

When she stepped in the room, she found that he had transformed the room into somewhat of a nursery, or at least half of the room was. Starlights were held on a string, hugging the wall. A dresser held up a large paper dog, but just as an inanimate object. Blank picture frames were around the paper terrier. Fennel was watching Emery curiously and noticed Ceony, running up to her. She lifted Fennel up and found the paper magician she was searching for, causing her to chuckle.

Emery had just recently fell down off a stool, resulting in the thump. He was in the process of hanging up yet another row of starlights up onto the ceiling, but had failed miserably. Starlights were strung around his torso, as if he was a Christmas tree and the starlights were his ornaments. He rubbed his back and sat up, cursing under his breath. When he heard her stifled chuckles, Emery smiled brightly, but mainly in his eyes per usual. He rubbed his back, but it didn't seem to bother him at all.

"Ceony!" Emery called, "I didn't think you would be home yet."

"Well, I'm here now." She laughed, walking towards him. "What is all this?" She asked, gesturing to the nursery.

"I figured I might as well start this." Emery said, "One can never be too prepared."

"I suppose you'll be stopping those large spells of yours?" Ceony asked, "Considering you're just making this into a nursery at this point."

"Well, half of the room will be. The other half, I'll keep the glider there. And maybe tinker with some larger spells." He said, "Hopefully, the child won't mess with the glider and accidentally fly it."

"Emery, you're going so fast." Ceony said, shaking her head in disbelief. They haven't even done anything at all, nothing beyond a kiss. His rush seemed so uncalled for, but Ceony appreciated his sweet gesture.

"I'm just..." He sighed, "I'm really excited." And she knew that for a fact, recalling a chamber in Emery's heart of wanting a family after everything was settled.

"I know." She grinned. "But we aren't even married yet."

"Isn't an engagement technically marriage?" He asked, cupping her cheek in his hand. He must have spent the entire evening just folding the paper terrier and all the starlights that had flooded the room as she felt his callused fingers. He must have been folding these starlights all day while she was away.

"Maybe, but not quite." She frowned, her mind wandering back to the store as Emery started to pick up the starlights from the floor. "Emery, do you know a man named Val?"

"Val?" Emery glanced up at her and thought for a moment. "No, I don't think so. Maybe he's someone I know, but goes by a different name now?"

"He congratulated me on the engagement, even called me Mrs. Thane." Ceony recalled, "Though I can't recall him anywhere."

"I might have graduated with him at Tagis Praff or he was apart of Criminal Affairs. I really don't remember." Emery responded, "I have many friends and enemies in many different industries and places. I wouldn't be shocked if he was an enemy."

"You do have a way with words. Even if they were the insulting kind." Ceony commented and Emery only laughed. "It's true! You are very good at subtly insulting someone."

"Oh Ceony, but my words are why you fell for me, right?" He asked, trying his best to look handsome and gentlemanly, striking a pose. Ceony grinned.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." Ceony chuckled, leaving Emery to his own devices.

* * *

The day went by slow. Ceony spent her day studying more spells for other magical properties and made them dinner. When it was time to turn in for the evening, she felt the feeling of being watched again as she washed her face. Why now, in her own home? Ceony frowned as she left the lavatory, heading towards the bedroom. Emery was already in bed, reading a book. Fennel had fallen asleep near his feet, his paper body moving up and down as he took deep breaths. Emery only looked up from his book when Ceony made herself comfortable in the bed.

"Goodnight, darling." Emery said.

"You aren't going to sleep?" Ceony asked, laying on her side to face him.

"No, my insomnia is rampant yet again. It's alright, I'll be asleep soon enough."

"It's really not a good habit." Ceony said and Emery only smiled. The basic corners of his frame were illuminated by the red candle on the nightstand.

"I know, Ceony. But then again, it wasn't a good habit tracking down the Excisioners, now was it?" He fired back. Ceony only rolled her eyes slightly and then closed them, feeling Emery's hand intertwined with hers before she fell into a soft sleep, unknowing of the problems to arise later that evening.

* * *

The first thing she noticed was how numb her legs were, as well as the fact that her whole body felt useless, except for her head. She knew that feeling of numbness, it bore into her memory. She forced her eyes open, jolting awake. She wasn't in bed anymore, she was sitting in a wooden chair, with no bounds. Why bound your prisoners when you could just alter their bodies? They didn't need to tie her up. Several candles lit the surrounding area, but for the most part, the rest was darkness.

"Mrs. Thane." That voice.

"I told you, I'm still getting there." Ceony grit her teeth as she realized, "You're an Excisioner." Ceony accused and the tenor only laughed.

"What gave it away?" The man asked, walking towards to the light. Val. His sharp cheekbones and messy raven black hair was very memorable, along with his piercing blue eyes. He wore a white button up and black slacks, to match with his black leather shoes. He also, like other Excisioners, had a belt of blood attached around his waist. He looked relaxed, unlike his creepy manner back at the store.

"Oh, I don't know, the feeling of numbness in my arms and legs wasn't an obvious hint on its own." Ceony said, "I can take another one of you down." She sounded confident. Too confident for her own taste. She really couldn't.

"Ah yes, you took Master Grath down, as well as Master Saraj." She heard the rolling of wheels slowly bringing something to light. She looked towards that direction and her eyes slightly widened.

"Lira." Crony murmured. There she was. Exactly how she looked like those years ago. Ceony frowned. How did they get her? She knew the shed was empty when the police had raided it, but how? She couldn't ponder on it for long as Val continued on.

"Master Lira is still here. She's not dead. Master Grath and Master Saraj may be gone, but that doesn't mean she isn't." They were holding onto a false belief- one that Ceony certainly hoped was false. "We have reasons to believe you can alter it. But we won't be rushing it, unlike Master Grath. He had quite the...attraction for her. But we are patient."

"We?" Ceony asked. She felt the chill of multiple eyes on her as she questioned it. There were more of them.

"Ceony, darling," The words were vile as Val said it, Emery often said those words to her in a sweet and kind manner, Val just sounded like poison.

"Master Grath had multiple students. My name must not have rung a bell to Magician Thane. I'm Master Grath's top student, after all. I worked all the planning and I helped him, with all of us. We stayed away from the limelight, however. We didn't want Master Grath's back-up to be ruined after all."

"You're insane." Ceony said, frowning. "What was the back-up?"

"To get revenge on you." He said simply, walking around Ceony. "And if he didn't figure out how to unfreeze Lira, we would."

"I don't even know how I did it." Ceony responded, "You know I don't, if you listened to Grath."

"Oh, we know. But that doesn't mean we can't torture you anyway." Ceony gulped, truly weighing the situation. She was trapped. No paper spells as they were all at home and she did make another necklace to switch around the bonds, but it wasn't around her neck. Val must know about the bond breaking, perhaps Saraj told him about it.

She had nothing to use to her disposal and she was stuck in a room full of Excisioners, hellbent on revenge.

* * *

Now, to answer your questions, in the deleted scenes, during the meeting of Emery and all the other Magicians in Criminal Affairs, Emery speaks about Grath having 'students', as the quote follows:

"Instead, he said, "A man can still learn Excision without being able to practice it. I knew a man in secondary school who had memorized all the basics of Folding before ever attending Tagis Praff. I'm positive that, at minimum, Grath personally trains his recruits.""

So I thought that it would be an interesting development if they were keen for revenge. Now it may not be the best story line, but I seriously hope that it's still alright. I had a lot of fun working on this. I hope I don't trash a good idea.


	2. Chapter 2

The first thing Emery felt was the paper-like texture trying to mimic a dog's lick. It was persistent and Emery woke up, hesitantly. Emery was a regular sleeper —when he slept at least— he didn't sleep too light or too deep, it was very calm. He stirred, finding Fennel on top of him, jumping up and down as if to tell him something.

"What's wrong, Fennel?" He asked the little dog sleepily. He reached a hand towards Ceony's side of the bed to find it empty, but slightly warm to represent that she hadn't left long.

Fennel wouldn't have woken him up if Ceony merely got a glass of water. Something was wrong. He rubbed his eyes and properly looked in the room, noticing the window open, letting in the midnight moonlight as well as a chill. He gently pushed Fennel off, getting up from the bed and examined it himself. He could see two figures holding up a body in their arms. The two seemed to be arguing, but he was more concerned of the silhouette outline of the body they were holding. He knew that silhouette.

"Ceony." He murmured, eyes widening. He ran to his closet and grabbed his emerald green coat, already filled with an assortment of magic spells in case of moments like these. He slipped on some shoes and ran a hand through his hair. He frowned, deciding to run downstairs and type a quick telegram. It was better to be safe than sorry.

 _ceony kidnapped stop going after her and her kidnappers stop if I don't come back stop I'm sorry stop_

He sent the telegram to Patrice and Alfred. Patrice would at least be able to soothe Ceony if something was to occur to him. He knew both of them would be wake up to the telegram, knowing they were light sleepers. He grit his teeth and grabbed a 9" by 14" piece of paper, making a fold in the middle and ripping it half. "Mimic." He murmured and folded one half into a quarter and put it near the telegram. Patrice would find it first and know immediately what to do with it, for sure. He placed the other half of the mimic spell in his pocket.

He ran outside from the front door and made a mental note to make the wards around the house even stronger. How could these two men slip in? The two were already off, but Emery could easily tail them if he was smart enough. He had to, or he was just a fool.

* * *

They led him out to a lot of warehouses near the outskirts of town. Emery unfortunately lost them as they reached this area. He couldn't determine which warehouse she could be held in. Nothing really gave it away.

The setting brought him flashbacks to when Lira, Grath, and Saraj were still threats. The thoughts of the bodies, mutilated and strewn about like useless pieces of trash brought shivers down his spine.

He just hoped he would be there just in time to save Ceony, at least. He wasn't there to save Juliet or any of those poor innocent people. All he had was paper, nothing more, nothing less. He didn't break bonds like Ceony, nor did he know how to cast any spells. His mind wandered to who could be responsible for her kidnapping. Perhaps these were the students Grath taught? They took Ceony for a reason and nobody had any real reason to particularly dislike her, unless it was an Excisioner. Even if it was someone Ceony knew, they wouldn't go as far as to breaking into Emery's home and stealing her away.

He was about to send several birds to determine her location when he heard it. A woman's scream. Then a man yelling, loudly, loud enough for Emery to hear. The warehouse's walls must have echoed their conversation out loud.

"Tell me, how the hell did you freeze her!? Or would you like me to start breaking your right hand's fingers?! You don't have anything Ceony Twill! You don't have anything!" That voice sounded so familiar. Emery couldn't quite place it as he ran to the warehouse. This man couldn't be alone. He looked around and found a ladder leading up to an open window of the warehouse. He climbed up, determined as ever.

"I don't know!" He could hear her crying in agony as a hand hit her cheek, hard. "I told you already, even I don't know! Emery doesn't even know! No Folder or anyone can tell you what I did! Please, just leave me alone."

"I don't think so, Ceony." He said, "I would actually kill you right now, but I don't want to disappoint Master Grath."

He reached the top and watched. Ceony wasn't even bound to the chair she was sitting on. Cuts oozed out blood from her legs and arms, covering her fair skin with crimson. Some of that blood was even dry. How long had she been there? It couldn't have been that long to make this much damage, but what was he to expect? They were Excisioners. He tailed the two men pretty well. Blood trickled down the side of her neck. Her face was starting to swell from the man's hand hitting her soft cheek.

Why didn't they take him instead? He clearly was a more valuable target. But perhaps they really did want to ask her how she froze Lira. He grabbed the mimic spell from his pocket and found Patrice's perfect script written on the paper, just finishing her sentence.

 _I swear, if we lose two more Folders, Emery._

Emery's sighed, fished for a pen in his coat and wrote back,

 _If I rescue Ceony, then perhaps we won't lose two more Folders and the two poor saps won't have to be forced to Folding. I should charge the Cabinet even more for my services to include near-death experiences._

Aviosky's writing appeared under his, expectant.

 _Where are you?_

He wrote down where he believed he was. It was near the outskirts of town, far enough for nobody to hear the screams besides a passerby, but close enough to the city to make it back there in less than fifteen to twenty minutes on a buggy.

 _And you got there on foot?_

Emery wrote back,

 _Yes. If you would all hurry, that would be splendid. I don't really want to hear Ceony crying anymore, let alone see her get hurt._

Patrice's response was quick, but slightly shaking.

 _We'll be there._

He turned his attention back to the scene in front of him. He was helpless, a one man vs God knows how many Excisioners were in there. Ceony was murmuring for something.

"What's that darling, you're going to have to speak up!" The man, who he assumed was Val, leaned in close. How did Val know him, Emery wondered. "Are you crying for your fiancé? He can't save you anymore. I _own_ you. Ah, I love the thought of owning someone. Excision is so damn fun." He couldn't quite see the man's face from this angle, only Ceony's. She was biting back anymore screams, but she was weak already from everything.

"Damn it, Ceony, I'll be there. I'll save you. Just hold on a little longer." Emery said, unable to look away. He was powerless. He couldn't save her. They'd both die if he just tried. He looked closer. Her eyes were puffy, as if she had been crying for a while now. Her left hand looked broken, really broken. He gazed to her right and noticed something else. A statue.

"Lira." He murmured, the figure too perfect to be anyone else. He remembered that figure so vividly, but in hatred. They actually found her body. Took it before Criminal Affairs could see her.

And now she was right there.

* * *

"Patrice-" Alfred stared, but she was already making her way to the auto-mobile.

"Alfred." Patrice turned, eyes narrow. "This is important. I don't care if any of your men are sleeping. I don't care if it's midnight. We're going to get them both."

"I get that Patrice, but slow down." Alfred said. He did want to rescue the two of them, but Patrice was going at such a quick pace. She was shaking, the more Alfred looked. He never found Patrice to be the worrying type. She'd never show her feelings out like this.

"How do you expect me to slow down when England's most talented Folder and his fiancé, which mind you, defeated three of the most deadly Excisioners as an _apprentice_ , are in danger?!" Patrice was stressed. She didn't work well under pressure, Alfred knew. "I'm _not_ about to lose anymore." She lowered her voice, more towards her original volume. "I couldn't help Delilah. But I _can_ help them." Alfred tensed at the mention of Patrice's late apprentice. She never talked about Delilah. Hell, Patrice was very seclusive.

It was enough for Alfred to wake up every person under Criminal Affairs that was active.

* * *

"Did I tell you that you could be unconscious?!" Val said, inflicting another wound onto Ceony who was too weak to yell anymore. Even here, he could hear her whisper, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." More blood oozed from the next infliction of pain. Emery couldn't watch. He couldn't bare to see it anymore. He looked down at the mimic paper and found Patrice's script.

 _We're here. I see you on the roof._

He glanced around and found a parade of vehicles. Police vehicles. Emery watched as they all circulated around the warehouse Emery was at. He breathed a sigh of relief.

Patrice continued to write,

 _How shall we do this?_

Emery looked back into the window and saw Ceony shed more tears.

 _We get whoever is in charge of this and capture him. I don't care about the others. Val, the leader, is more important._

He could see Patrice step out of the auto-mobile, his mimic spell in hand. She looked up to him and nodded, murmuring something to Alfred, who then rallied the men he had brought with him.

"I think I hear your fiancé." Val said, kicking the chair that held Ceony to face Lira in frustration, but it did not topple over. "We have to leave, my dear. But I promise I'll be back." Val wasn't afraid to be loud, that was for sure. He motioned the shadows, students of Grath's. Now they were Val's. They seemed to know what he wanted, as they picked up Lira's statue with care and prepared a teleportation spell. Val, on the other hand, did something worse. Emery coudn't see it from here, but he knew. "I'll leave you without the one thing to keep you whole. I'll think of it as a parting gift." He wrenched into her chest, pulling something out. Ceony stared at him in shock, eyes wide, but it looked as if even she couldn't process what was going on. The colour from her body seemed to have drained from her face. Emery looked in surprise, then that surprise turned to boiling anger.

Emery measured the jump from the ceiling to the ground floor. It wasn't that far, he could easily fall onto Val and using his weight to crush him, or at least render him partially unfit to move without killing him. Emery clenched his fists, jumping down and landing directly onto Val, his coat flying up, paper spells of all the sort flying out. He had come with a vengeance and he wasn't going to stop until that man felt the same pain he inflicted onto her. His shadow was clear as day and Val whipped around, but he didn't have time to prepare for a spell, as Emery kicked Val's chest, hard.

Meanwhile, Ceony still couldn't feel anything except for the throbbing pain that burned everywhere, especially in her chest. It felt as if something was missing. The only warmth she felt was hot blood as it trickled down her wounds.

 _Was this what it was like Anise_ , she wondered, her memory going back to her old best friend once again in her time of need. _Was this how the blood felt as it trickled down her wrists in the bathtub?_

Ceony looked up, trying to stay strong. Just to last a little longer. Emery could find her. He was good at tracking Excisioners. He could do it again. Val was talking, but she had stopped listening. She couldn't even think, she felt as if her only function was to feel the pain. Was this was how she was going to die? Unable to complete the fortune that came from her fortunity box?

She did however, see something fall, she wasn't quite sure what, but she could distinctly see the color of emerald green and a bunch of paper fall from the thing that fell from the ceiling and she could hear a loud crunch coming from Val's body. She felt feeling come back to her body, but it only multiplied the pain even more. She groaned in exasperation, eyes trickling down even more tears, if that was even humanly possible.

She could hear Mg. Hughes' voice echo through the warehouse and the footsteps of the students as they managed to teleport themselves and Lira's statue out. Only Val remained and that person that fell from the sky had pinned him down, shattering all the glass vials of blood he had on his person, soaking into Val's black slacks and shirt.

Ceony slipped in and out of consciousness, unable to do anything in this situation. She had the sudden realization that she couldn't feel anything. She couldn't hear her heart that thumped heavily in her chest only a few moments ago. She felt strong hands- unfamiliar ones -hold her person and carry her away quickly as several police officers took care of Val, who was laughing triumphantly.

She swore she heard Emery and Patrice call out her name in unison as she finally sunk into a long term unconsciousness.


	3. Chapter 3

Emery quickly folded as fast as he could, finishing chain after chain, cursing that he didn't have this spell in his coat, considering he was against an Excisioner. A vitality chain. He didn't have time to waste on making everything perfect. Patrice was watching over Ceony, as the paper heart he had made a few moments ago had settled in. Once he was satisfied, he rushed back to Ceony and put the chains around her chest and said, "Ease." He could hear the light heartbeat of the paper heart. It wasn't strong, as paper isn't, but it was all he could offer.

She looked dead. Her eyes were closed and she was breathing lightly, but nonetheless, she looked dead, her skin, normally rosy and bright, was white and stiff. Patrice made her as comfortable as possible.

"I can't even begin to fathom how scared she must have been to see me like this." Emery murmured, slightly sighing in relief. He could remember Ceony frantically figuring trying to make him feel better and try to help him, despite only being an apprentice. He remembered every word she had said.

 _"But you can't die! You have too much to teach me! And you're too nice to die!"_

Now he was watching it in her perspective. But the stakes were higher now. Way higher.

"She was terrified." Patrice recalled, her lips pursing even tighter, as if that was even humanly possible. Patrice's shoulders were hardly relaxed and her eyes looked tired. Emery guessed that's what he must look like, but a hundred times worse.

"Emery...?" Ceony murmured, opening her eyes slightly. Glassy and dead. Her voice was equally as dead too, monotone. Emery went to her side, getting on his knees and lifting her up gently in his arms, as if she was made out of paper.

"I'm here." He said, moving a strand of hair from her face. She smiled lightly, but it was so...lifeless, if that could even describe a smile.

"I'm so sorry." She managed to say and Emery shook his head, shushing her before she could say any more. He kissed her forehead lightly, as if to keep him from losing it.

"Don't be, it's my fault if anything, love." Emery affirmed and Ceony shook her head slowly in response.

"It's not that..." She murmured, "I'm hurting you even more. I...want to make you whole. I'm only breaking you like this." She slipped back into unconsciousness, her eyes closing and Emery placed her back down and stood up slowly. He restrained from showing his feelings around Patrice, but he could feel his eyes getting watery.

"Ceony stopped searching for trouble and trouble found her." Emery murmured, then looked back to Patrice when he felt comfortable. "Did you bring a nurse?"

"Actually, we brought Magician Kilmer and a nurse too." Alfred said, stepping into the conversation, the Binder and nurse making their appearance. Patrice and Emery left Ceony's side to allow Magician Kilmer and the nurse to do their work. Alfred stayed to watch. Emery leaned against an auto-mobile nearby, the whole ordeal taking a toll onto him.

 _"I...want to make you whole. I'm only breaking you like this."_

Patrice looked at him, her eyes showing deep concern despite her unchanging voice and stern look. She seemed to have many things on her mind, but so did Emery. He wanted to tell her how much he burned inside, but he couldn't. Instead he said, "He's not going to give her heart up easily. I can't keep giving her paper hearts. It won't do us any good." They watched the Excisioner get thrown into an automobile, bounded by a straitjacket. Emery saw Val's blue eyes meet his and Val gave him a lopsided grin. Now he really looked familiar. He still couldn't place it. He frowned and looked at Patrice, who was watching Emery intently.

"We can interrogate him in the morning." Patrice said, eyeing him carefully. "You need to get some rest, it's not healthy to be up for twenty-four hour periods, Emery." He looked at her in disbelief. Patrice didn't realize she had struck a cord until it was too late.

"How can you expect me to rest, Patrice, while my fiancé is literally on the verge of _dying_?!" Emery asked, exploding, tears brimming his eyes. Patrice was taken aback, her eyes widening slightly. In all the years of knowing him, he'd never exploded like this– not in front of her at least. "How can you expect me," He was breaking up. Alfred looked towards their direction, as well as Magician Kilmer and the nurse. "How can you expect me to take this so _lightly?_ " He fell to his knees, clutching bits of grass in his fists. Patrice watched silently as he had his mental breakdown. From her angle, the moonlight shone so bright you could see this man in such anguish. "You..." His shoulders dropped, "You don't understand how much she means to me. You don't understand how I just wish I could get away from this life for more than two minutes. You don't understand the feeling of not knowing if she'll be alive the next day. This isn't some love story of a mentor and an apprentice anymore, this is the fixed reality now. I don't know if I can even hold her in the evening anymore and express how much I can't live without her. And here I am," He said, slowly getting up, "I can't do _anything_."

He paused, allowing a deep sigh to escape him. Patrice was speechless. "And do you know what the worst part is?" He looked up to Patrice, her expression unreadable. He was back to his normal volume, but his tone still held his fury. "The Cabinet _won't care_. They don't care that she's my fiancé. They won't care about my opinion on this. They'll only want information on Grath's students. They _don't_ _care_ if she _dies_. Hell, I bet they'd be willing to trade her life just to get information from him."

"That's not true." Patrice said, pursing her lips together. "The Cabinet isn't cold."

Emery turned on his selective hearing, frowning. He wiped the tears from his cheeks and walked away from Patrice, heading back to Ceony. Magician Kilmer had finished, standing nearby to watch the nurse apply any last minute things. Most of her cuts have disappeared, except for the dry blood that was left in it's wake that the nurse was cleaning up.

"I suggest she rest until we can solve her...case." Mg. Kilmer said, crossing his arms. "I'm not a doctor, but in due time, the healing I did won't be enough if she doesn't have her heart back in her."

"This heart is more fine crafted, unlike the one she made for me. It might last her longer." Emery said, more to himself than Mg. Kilmer. "It has to."

"We can take her back to the cottage, if you'd like." Alfred suggested. Mg. Kilmer shook his head.

"No, take her to the hospital. She needs to be watched carefully." Mg. Kilmer suggested, "Whichever is closest to where you are keeping that...Excisioner at."

"Alright. Emery?" Alfred asked, glancing at him. Alfred looked worried for his friend, after his outburst. Emery took in a deep breath and nodded.

"That's fine." Emery murmured in response, watching as policemen carried Ceony into the auto-mobile carefully. "I'll accompany you."

* * *

Val wore the straitjacket, sitting in his chair like it was nothing. He didn't even care that he was captured. Hell, it looked like he even enjoyed it. Emery had insisted he interrogate Val and Alfred had allowed him. Patrice was very opposed to the idea as a whole, but she wouldn't tell Emery that. Just seeing him explode like that was enough to keep her mouth shut.

"Ah, Emery." Val said as Emery walked in, eyes narrow, extremely tired. He hardly got any rest and Patrice didn't try to bring up the idea of sleeping to him anymore.

"Why?" Emery murmured as he took his seat across from Val.

"Hmmm, no good evening?"

"Why now?" Emery asked, "Why now to reveal yourselves? Why not to just me? Why did you drag Ceony down with you?!" He could feel his face turning bright red in rage.

"Slow down there." Val said, a small smirk on his lips. "I know you're frustrated about your fiancé but relax, no rush." Emery's eye twitched, but he wouldn't let words get their way with him.

"Then, we'll start one by one." Emery said, crossing his arms and making himself comfortable. "Why Ceony and not me?"

"We don't have a vendetta against _you_." Val responded cooly, "Ceony has all the answers we need. No need to bring you into the mix."

"And you retrieved the Lira statue before Criminal Affairs could take it back?" Val only smiled.

"Oh right, you ex-wife." Emery winced at the sound of that, "Yes, we took Mistress Lira out before you all could touch her." Val said, seeming to just give information like it was nothing.

"Why now?" Emery asked, allowing his composure to come back. Val shrugged, as much as he could in a straitjacket.

"We had to calculate our forces. We have a good amount of people who just gave up on humanity as it was or had some tragic backstory." Val said, then frowned, "But we are not plentiful as we would like. If you try to search for any of them, my students have most likely scattered to avoid any sort of problems."

"Who will usurp you if you die?" Val laughed at that question then stared at Emery.

"The next would probably be Master Grath's next best student. If you had to compare myself and her, I would be like Master Saraj. I'm very silent. I don't like attracting attention." Val's eyes narrowed as he continued on, "If she controlled those recruits, I highly doubt Criminal Affairs would be able to rest. Think of her as Master Grath, but with the deadliness of Master Saraj."

"Is that why we should let you go?" Emery asked.

"That, and I will probably destroy your fiance's heart. It would be a shame to have her meet the same fate as Magician Cantrell." Emery paled and Val noticed. "I'm only joking Thane. For now."

"Why do you look so familiar?" Emery finally asked, seriously unable to place Val in his memory. There were no distinguishing features that could easily come to mind for Emery when looking at him. It had been driving him out of his mind and he was tired of trying to figure it out.

"Do you recall Magician Peters?" Val asked. The question took Emery by surprise.

"Magician Peters?" He was a Folder who had gone missing several years ago, by some unknown cause after his wife had gone missing as well. It forced Patrice to board another poor apprentice to Magician Walker. "Of course I do. We're still looking for him. What does that have to do with you?"

"You're looking right at him." He said, grinning. After staring at him for several more moments, he realized those piercing blue eyes and light freckles could only be Magician Peters. Emery had graduated with him from Praff in the same year and he too, was forced into Folding. They became decent acquaintances afterwards, but hearing him speak and act now, it was completely different than the Magician Peters he knew from before. Magician Peters often cared for everything and would definitely not kill anyone, not even to become an Excisioner.

"You dyed your hair." Emery remembered him to have blond hair, but it appears it had changed.

"I was told I looked better with black." Val said and Emery stared in shock. This couldn't be Harry Valen Peters. He was so chipper, didn't have a son too? "I thought my name might have helped you recall me."

"I can't believe it. What happened to you Harry?"

"It's a hazy breeze, really." Val murmured, "I lost and gained, but living this life was much better than being a damn _Folder_."

"I beg to differ, Harry." Emery said, "I'm still a Folder. I'm not complaining." _Because it turned out for the better. "_ You can still make the change." Emery frowned, "Become a Binder instead. You could still turn your life around."

"And to what, live under the Cabinet's rule?" He laughed as if it was a mere joke. "Emery, the Cabinet really is vile. They're not worth it." Val leaned in closer, enough for only Emery and nobody else to hear. "Imagine if they found out your love's little secret. I wonder how they'd take it. _Execute her to avoid any problems_? If they find out I'm Harry, they'll realize the whole 'breaking bonds' garbage. They'd want to keep that under wraps. What's one life in order to keep the balance of magic as we know it? And I know for a fact they wouldn't care if I killed Ceony just for pure sport, now would they? I heard your mental breakdown. You know it yourself." Val chuckled, "That's why I don't care; why I switched to Excision once Grath figured it out. He told me first, of course. I could finally do the things I knew, rather than just merely teaching them!"

"I-" He was taken back by Val's sudden response. He couldn't let Val's words burn in him.

"I'm not wrong, Emery." Val murmured, "Why do you think I became an Excisioner? You think my wife went missing for no reason?" Emery remembered Hannah Peters, a Polymaker, working under another branch of the Cabinet. "She found something about the Cabinet she shouldn't have."

"And why not investigate instead of meddling with this?" Emery countered, "You could have taken them down without this."

"I would have been killed, or missing to everyone else." Val muttered. "If you get me out of here and not tell anyone my original identity, I'll give you your fiance's heart back. Make it seem like an escape."

"And why should I trust you?" Emery asked, frowning. Why was he even considering this? There had to be other ways to force Ceony's heart from Val. He didn't have to go down this path.

"Because if you don't, then I suggest you make her comfortable in her deathbed. I'll give you time to think about it. She'll last three days at most." Val smiled, "Tick tock, Emery!"


	4. Chapter 4

Emery paced in Ceony's hospital room, continually glancing at her state, as a part of him refused to believe that this was even happening; despite the fact she wasn't responsive. Her orange hair that was usually in a braid was in flurry and her cheeks were paler than paper. He had left Val alone in the interrogation room, refusing to speak to Alfred or Patrice as he left. He just needed Ceony. Luckily, during his entire walk over to the hospital, Emery was successful in blocking out any more tears and breakdowns he may have. He could not however, block the words that continued to plague him. Emery had narrowed his options down to two. He could break Val out, resulting in chaos of unspeakable proportions, but then if he went with the Cabinet- Ceony could be dead. Val wasn't playing around.

Emery just couldn't do that, could he? Risk the lives of so many just for one?

But this one life was important. So important. More important than any other life in the universe. This life was his brand new beginning and at the same time, the end of him if she were to go.

It was _hers_.

At the same time, he couldn't stray away like this. Val was only tempting him, _using_ Ceony to get to him. The thought made his blood boil with frustration, with a pang of regret. He knew this was his fault, even if Ceony would tell him otherwise once she was awake again.

In the end, the cause would always be the same; with Emery having brought Ceony into this, whatever it may be.

"Emery." Patrice's voice cut through the silence, like a sharp piece of paper slicing through a portion of skin. Emery turned around, as he was too deep in his thoughts to notice that she had approached. She looked well, but it was clear she had been worrying for sometime.

"Patrice." He greeted, his voice hardly showing any inflection.

"How is she?" Patrice asked, glancing over Emery's shoulder.

"All the same, I'm afraid." He wrung his hands absentmindedly, speaking of what the nurse told him. "She won't stir without her actual heart and the magic used to heal her wounds will leave her in bed for a while." Emery took a deep breath, "there's nothing to be done." They stood in a strange silence for sometime, their eyes scanning the other. As he looked closer, Patrice's eyes betrayed any sort of order she was trying to portray in her body language and facial expressions. He was sure he looked similar, if not worse.

"I'm sorry." Patrice finally said, when they were staring at each other for a bit too long, "I'm really sorry."

Emery raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

"I'm sorry this is happening to you," Patrice pursed her lips, her signature expression, regardless of the years that have passed. Emery knew she was going to scold him or tell him a lesson, just like those times at Praff. "But I am _not_ sorry for worrying about you. I meant it when you needed sleep."

"Patrice, I have three days." He reminded her, "three measly days to convince Val to let her live."

"I'm well aware." Patrice sighed, letting her stern demeanor down, "she deserves so much more."

 _More than you know,_ Emery thought.

"If she dies from this Patrice..." Emery trailed off for a moment, his mind debating on the words he should say, "She won't be a mum." His voice broke at the last word. Mum. Something Emery had always wanted. He wanted to have children, as it was something he held close to his heart. Ceony knew that and wanted it too. Patrice's eyes softened, her shoulders dropping, her mouth in the shape of a small 'o'.

"Is she...?" The question hung in the air. Emery looked at her earnestly, then shook his head.

"No. We aren't married yet. I follow the conventional ways and so does she. We were talking about it, before all this though. I wanted to marry her as soon as possible so we could." Patrice nodded slowly, the breath she was holding now expelled, "And now this...nonsense is stopping us from that future. I thought we were done."

Patrice brushed past him, rather than give him an answer, just to see at the Ceony in the cot properly. Emery watched as Patrice held Ceony's hand in hers, looking to Ceony like a caring mother. Emery supposed in a sense, Patrice acted like one to Ceony when they saw each other. "Ever since Delilah, I've feared for Ceony as well." Patrice admitted, "She's been able to defeat three Excisioners, but she lost this time. If she loses to these," she pondered for a moment, debating on how to accurately describe them, "...students, think about how dangerous they could be."

"Grath trained them, so they're similar. Only subtle differences exist, like there are more of them and less of us who would even dare to fight an Excisioner. They also have no sole desire for anything besides finding a way to unfreeze Lira and nothing is in their way besides Ceony. They're also clever, more level headed too, in comparison to Lira, Grath, and Saraj. If they formulate a plan, they could probably execute it well." Emery commented, speaking out his fears as stuffing his sweaty hands in his pants pockets in hopes he would stop fidgeting.

"And that's what I'm afraid of...when Lira is back up and at it..." Patrice said, turning around as Alfred walked into the room, hands in his pockets as well.

"Emery, Patrice." He awknowledged. Emery turned as well. Alfred looked well, but Emery supposed he didn't have as much to worry.

"Alfred." Emery bit his lip, a nervous habit he seemed to be developing now. He might as well ask for the case file, it could prove useful. "The Harry Peters case. Do you still have it?"

"Never thought I would hear that name in a while ever since you left Criminal Affairs, but yes, I do." Alfred raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

"I need it."

"Now?" Patrice quipped, "Is it really important?"

"Yes, now. I have a possible lead." Patrice and Alfred both glanced at each other, though Emery couldn't quite piece what was on their minds after his breakdown. It had been ages since he last lost it, at least, ever since Ceony came aboard.

"I can get it for you. I believe it's still in the cold cases." Alfred explained, then tilted his head slightly in question, "When do you need it?"

"As soon as I can have it." Emery responded immediately. Alfred thought for a moment then nodded.

"I can get it to you in the evening. Will you be here?" Alfred asked and Emery gave a curt nod. He could practically feel Patrice's eyes on him and her dislike towards the idea of him staying the night, but she couldn't argue with him on this. He wanted to make sure Ceony was okay and well, not a single hair on her head hurt.

Everything would be okay.


End file.
